John Coltrane
Tenor Sax Solo on
A Love Supreme, Part 4: Psalm

About

John Coltrane delivers a deeply meditative open-form tenor saxophone solo on "Psalm," the concluding movement of A Love Supreme, at approximately 59 BPM in C minor. Coltrane has written that this piece is a musical recitation of a prayer by horn. The prayer, a poem, is entitled "A Love Supreme" and is included in the album. The sax solo has the same number of syllables as the poem, up to the word "Amen" (which is given three syllables). Every time the poem says "Thank you God,", Coltrane plays the "Thank you God" motif. As the sole soloist on this final movement, Coltrane transforms the saxophone into an instrument of prayer, his deliberate phrasing creating a sense of resolution and peace after the intense spiritual journey of the preceding three movements.

John Coltrane was 37 to 38 years old at the time.